Is Verizon purposely slowing down Netflix video streaming?

The report comes from GigaOM via Network World: Internet bandwidth provider Cogent has accused Verizon of deliberately slowing down its video streaming traffic in retaliation to Cogent's recent partnership deal with Netflix, a move widely viewed as a threat to video rental service Redbox, in which Verizon owns a 50% stake, as noted by analysis on Network World's Open Source Community.

"They are allowing the peer connections to degrade," claims Cogent CEO Dave Schaffer to GigaOm. "Today some of the ports are at 100 percent capacity."

Schaffer goes on to add that "Verizon told Cogent that it hasn't been fully accommodating its traffic because some of it stems from a video content streaming provider, whose name Verizon apparently elected not to specify," according to Network World's reporting. In his interview with GigaOm, Schaffer reportedly specified that Netflix "has become a big partner" with Cogent.